Peace talks between Israel and Egypt have reached the “serious stage,” it was reported here today.

The report stated that two meetings were recently held between representatives of the two states in a “country which is interested in peace in the Middle East,” It added that the delegated had informed their respective governments of the tack taken at the talks, and that both governments had approved of what had been accomplished thus far. Last week, Eli Sasoon, Israel Minister to Turkey denied that such talks had taken place at Ankara.

(The majority of the Lebanese people–Christian and Moslen alike–favor the initiation of direct peace talks between Lebanon and Israel as soon as the Jewish state and Jordan have negotiated a port, it was reported in London from Beirut today. The report added that cordial relations already exist between Jews in northern Israel and Arabs in southern Lebenon.)